Adam could barely open his eyes in the morning. They were puffy from his excessive crying and alcohol consumption the night before in his apartment. He shuffled off his two-seat leather sofa he had slept on—still wearing his wrinkled business shirt and dark slacks, and made his way to his kitchenette dining table. His mind was still swimming with both the lingering impacts from the booze and his broken heart.
Previously he never had problems attracting a man to his bed thanks to his demure good looks, gentle brown eyes, kitten soft brown hair and toned body. Yet, that one time he genuinely fell in love and made an effort to win his love to his side: everything turned into a mess, and he was left alone to cry out his misery.
The man he had always loved, Bradley James, was snatched away from him. And the one who stole his love was a cunning CEO named Adrian Masters. That man had wooed Bradley to his side to the point, Bradley fell head over heels. And the horrible truth to this situation, Adam had been powerless to stop it. He had even contributed to their relationship blossoming inadvertently.
Now Bradley and Adrian were a couple. He didn't want to believe it. But wanting and seeing a plain truth were two different things. His heart almost stopped when he thought back to Bradley's revelation.
"Like I told you before. Adrian and I are dating. He's my boyfriend."
"To think Bradley could say this of Adrian and himself without flinching." He laughed, feeling the sting of tears well within his eyes. Of all the times for Bradley to be a man.
"Why do all things I like get taken away from me?" His voice cracked with a quiver.
Of course, deep down, he knew the cause of the issue. He had tried to keep him using dishonesty and even brandishing a weapon. It was a given that he wasn't going to look good in front of the man he loved. If he had been honest from the beginning, would they have had a chance? Somehow, in his heart, he felt a truth that either way, a whirlwind like Adrian would have shaken up their relationship to a similar result.
"I'd rather be hated." He scoffed and rose from his chair to find his way to his fridge for a fresh can of beer.
His mood and movement were interrupted by the annoying vibration of his phone, which was charging on the kitchen bench. He would've ignored it, but the thing kept buzzing persistently with incoming messages and calls. One after another.
"Alright!" He snapped and pulled the thing off the charger.
A pent-up sigh was released when he checked his messages. A lot were from Jace, who gave polite, brief, messages to see if he was okay. It eased some of his tension. The boy was the baby brother he never had and always wanted. He felt relieved they were still on good terms. There was one message from Bradley, but he wasn't ready to open it, so left it unread. He frowned when he saw a string of missed calls from an unknown number that appeared to be from overseas.
"Now my phone has spam." He grumbled and growled when the unknown number was ringing. "Fine! I'll give you a piece of my mind."
He answered the call with a firm reprimand on how spammers need to rot in jail.
"You don't pull your punches, do you, Adam Thornton. Or is it because you're still reeling from a broken heart?" A deep and smooth voice teased him. A man's voice he didn't recognize.
"Who are you?!"
The voice chuckled. "I don't blame you for not recognizing the voice of your boss."
Adam gulped and moved the phone off his ear to calm himself down. His mind was trawling through T-Strike's organization chart. He returned to the conversation when he felt more in control of his reactions.
"You're not Adrian."
"Of course. You'd be swearing death threats at me by now."
Adam's mind was madly rushing through company data he knew of. Who would be close enough to know about his relationship issues with Adrian and say he's the boss? His heart skipped a beat when he reached a conclusion.
"Joel Parker."
"It's a pleasure. I heard about your situation and did the due diligence in Adrian's place."
Adam frowned, not understanding why the man would do that. What were these CEOs up to?
"Why?"
There was a long pause before Joel responded.
"I will admit that Adrian holds some responsibility towards any estrangement you may have with Bradley James. That man is clumsy in love. Love makes people do stupid things."
"Are you saying I was being stupid too?" Adam huffed.
"Of course. If you weren't, would you have caused all those damaging rumors about Adrian using the Dehane app?"
Adam gulped, feeling his limbs weak and twitchy with nerves. The man was threatening him.
"So, your call is actually a friendly warning." He was doing his best to keep his voice steady.
"No. But, well, I won't lie and say I don't have an ulterior motive."
"And that is?"
"Work with me. I'm inviting you to the overseas A-Man deployment program."
"Hmph. I see, so that's how it is." Adam scoffed with the assumption that T-Strike wasn't going to press charges on him since that would open up an unwanted investigation. However, they were going to hold him to his employment to ensure he would pay for his crimes.
"Do you? Work mends a broken heart faster. And you're still an employee, one who qualifies for an executive role. But, we won't keep you if you decide to leave. You're free to live your life as you please."
Adam frowned. So if they weren't going to hold him accountable, then what was the purpose for the call?
"No games. Tell me honestly why you called."
"As I said, Adam. I saw the value of your abilities when you used Dehane to spread those gossip seeds about Adrian. But if you want another reason, then wouldn't you see this as an opportunity to make amends?" Joel's voice and words were serious. Adam sensed a sincerity from them.
"For good measure, I guarantee you won't need to deal with Adrian. You only need to go through me. Allow me to give you a briefing of the expectations."
Adam silently listened to the offer that sounded too good to be true. If anything, it would ensure his distance from Bradley and Adrian for the time being. If Joel was genuine with his words, he had a chance to redeem himself.
"Fine. When do you need me?" He nodded at the arrangements, then calmly ended the call.
He grabbed the can of beer and tipped the contents down the sink, then headed into the shower and cleaned up. He returned to his phone to read Bradley's message. His heart raced and fingers trembled with hesitation as he opened it up.
[Bradley: I'm sorry for not being aware of your feelings. I hurt you because I was stupid and naive. I love Adrian. I can't change this, but I want to make it up to you somehow. So I hope you can give me a chance to redeem our friendship.]
A tear slipped from his eye. After everything he had done behind his back, the man still wanted to be his friend. Fine. He will continue being a friend and suppress his feelings as he had always done. Now was the time to focus on what he needed to do to restore Bradley's faith in him. Maybe he would discover another way for the man to love him. No tricks this time.
"I should've been the man he could trust." He sighed.
With his purpose renewed, he started preparations for leaving the country within the month.